City owns Fremont site — temporarily

Thursday, Aug. 7, 2003 | 10:54 a.m.

The city of Las Vegas is buying the old Metro Police fingerprint building on Fremont Street, but does not plan to own it for very long.

Las Vegas businessman and auto enthusiast Richie Clyne has asked to purchase the 1.24-acre property at 601 Fremont Street from the city. Clyne plans to build an entertainment venue on the site.

Clyne, longtime manager of the antique auto collection at the Imperial Palace and the founding president of the $200 million Las Vegas Motor Speedway, initiated the deal in May, contingent on the city obtaining the vacant building that was designated as "surplus" last October by the Clark County Commission after Metro relocated its fingerprint services to a new building on Russell Road.

The City Council on Wednesday approved the purchase of the half-block property, which was appraised at $1.9 million, for nearly $1.2 million. Had the city not bought the building, the property would have gone to auction, where there was no guarantee Clark County would get $1.2 million or that Clyne would post the winning bid.

The council vote was 6-0 with Mayor Oscar Goodman abstaining because he co-owns land with a relative of Clyne who is now deceased. A member of the audience had to remind Goodman of that potential conflict of interest before the vote was taken.

Because Clyne may have inherited partial ownership from the dead relative, Goodman agreed there was a possible conflict and abstained from voting even though Clyne's offer technically was not part of the city's purchase of the property.

A one-page letter to City Manager Doug Selby, dated May 15, makes clear Clyne's intention to purchase the property, but it does not give details of his proposed development. Clyne did not return messages left Wednesday. A person answering the phone at the Imperial Palace antique auto collection said he was out of town until next month and could not be reached.

City officials say there is nothing sinister about the city being a middleman on such a deal.

"The city and county trade and purchase land from each other all of the time," said City Councilman Lawrence Weekly, who noted there is no guarantee the city eventually will sell the property to Clyne.

"This is property the city wanted regardless of any potential deal," he said. "It's a great price and we did not want to miss the opportunity to buy this land that fits in with our plans."

There also is no guarantee the city will recoup the entire investment because of its location in a redevelopment area.

"We could sell it for $1, but I don't think that is what we want to do," said Weekly, in whose ward the building is located.

Earlier this year the council created the entertainment overlay district to revitalize a six-block section of downtown just east of the Neonopolis entertainment center.

Eateries with some form of live entertainment within the district can get limited liquor licenses under greatly relaxed rules, including waiver of the 1,500-foot distance requirement between bars. However, no gaming is permitted at any of those establishments other than the El Cortez, which was licensed for unrestricted gaming before the district was created.